"Sorry I made you do all the work... But this is really the only times I can do this." Nagi says honestly, breathing heavily, hands on her knees.
Itachi gently pulls her down, "Rest for a bit, we can take our time until we resume."
"Thank you, Itachi-sama."
"You really should stop calling me '-sama'."
Nagi sit, back against a rock as she regain her breath.
-Are you not supposed to be doing this?- he wipe some sweat over a pair of black googles.
She let down her hair and jumps a bit when Itachi takes the pin from her to put it back up.
"... It's a technique passed down only in the main family. It's not allowed to be taught outside. And well, I'm not really being taught, am I? They can't stop me once I already learn it." She shrug.
Itachi hands her a waterskin, "It seems you have a difficult time maintaining the same release on your right and left side."
As expected of Itachi, he doesn't even need her to tell him how it's supposed to work and he already knows what she's doing wrong. She nods at him.
It's like learning to be ambidextrous, only she already is and she can definitely channel equal chakra on both hands to perform jutsus. She needs to be able to write identically with both hands and feet with the exact level of legibility all at the same time.
They finish in a day, getting rid of all the apes on the mountain -she doesn't actually like it, at the thought that she's basically pushing to extinct an animal. But there are a lot of strange, dangerous animals on this continent, it seemed, that it really was no surprise that even if humans didn't have each other to fight, they still developed ninjutsu. Getting rid of them is necessary for the peaceful life of the people.
By nightfall, she can finally do it. Not quite a snap of a finger. It takes her some time to concentrate on her chakra and then perform it, but at that point, there's really only practice to deal with that.
Before they settle in for the night in an inn, Nagi says to them over her covers, half-yawning through her attempt at being solemn, "Itachi-sama, Yoji-san, thank you for being patient with me today. If you ever need help with developing new techniques or anything, I'll be glad to help even if it's just as a target."
-I'll hold you to that-
Nagi smiles at that, her success making her giddy and making the night feel particularly warm.
"I'll be sure to remember." Itachi says.
XxXxXx
"Nagi-chan!"
Nagi blink and return the wave before she's glomped by the two older, much taller girls, "Hana! Izumi!"
She hasn't see them for almost two weeks now.
"Guess what Nagi-chan! Guess what!" Hana shrieks.
"We worked really, really hard, you know!" Izumi tells her.
"We've moved up another grade!"
"It's not as impressive as you, but just one year and we're gonna graduate at ten." The Uchiha squeals, looking utterly pleased.
Hana is bouncing around, "We'll definitely catch up so we can go on girls night out missions like the one kaa-san does with her friends! It's gonna be so cool!"
Nagi applauds, giving them her heartfelt congratulations and support, "Wow~, I can't wait until then."
"Let's go to Amaguriama." Hana declares, which is probably the real reason why they waited for her at the gate.
"Congratulations Izumi-san."
The older girl does a double take at Itachi, "I-Itachi-kun?"
Nagi smiles up at them, "Hana, Izumi, these are my teammates. Aburame Yoji-san, Uchiha Itachi-sama, and that man talking to the chunin is our sensei, Minazuki Yuki-sensei."
Hana blink at where she's pointing, "Wow, your sensei is plain."
Yuki-sensei twitch.
"Oh, hey to you too Itachi-kun. Long time no see." Hana waves at him over Izumi's shoulder, "And nice to meet you, Yoji-kun."
"Nice to meet you, Yoji-kun." Izumi echoes, giving him a shallow bow.
Yoji respond with a nod and they don't pry. Aburame are naturally quiet anyways.
"It's a bit of a surprise, Itachi-kun, I almost expected you to already be a chunin." Hana says half teasingly and half seriously.
Itachi glance at her, at Izumi, his teammates, and looks away, carefully saying, "Sensei says I'm not ready yet."
"Oh, huh. Well you two can join us too."
Izumi hesitates, then tacks on, "We're going to Amaguriama, they make dango too Itachi-kun."
Itachi stares at her then shakes his head.
"Thank you for the offer, but I have to report to otou-san. Enjoy. Bye Nagi-chan, Yoji-san."
-I also have to report-
"Take care, Itachi-sama, Yoji-san."
Izumi looks relieved when they disappear in the distance.
"What's wrong Izumi?" Hana asks.
They both jump when Izumi screams in her hands, falling to her knees, "That was so embarrassing! Itachi-kun saw me bragging about something like that when he finished the academy in four months! He must think I'm so stupid!"
... Pretty sure he left because he saw Izumi's pause.
They must be friends within the clan, Nagi thinks. After all, Itachi refused dango because he's making her uncomfortable.
Presumably.
Maybe he really can't make his father wait for his report.
Either way, knowing him, he'd at least be bummed out at having to say no.
"Whaat?" Hana watch Izumi bawling on the pavement, "I don't think he's that type of person. Or if he is, then he's not a very good friend."
Izumi whimper.
XxXxXx
"It's been so long since we sparred us three! What do you guys think about a taijutsu club. We're the taijutsu girls." Hana grins, crouched low in her clan's stance, chakra stirring in that peculiar way Inuzuka's chakra do as their nails and canines grow.
"Taijutsu girls? But don't you want to be a medic Hana?" Izumi asks, a kunai in each hand.
Unlike Nagi and Hana, Izumi isn't as well-trained in her clan's taijutsu -mentally dubbed by Nagi as 'hit-and-run taijutsu'- stemming from being the clan's half-blood outcast. She's developing her own style, a combination of Uchiha kata, Fire kata, and any holes in her guard she patch up with by relying more on instinctive reactions that she hones through constant sparring with Hana and then Nagi.
She once told them that she's focusing on her taijustu, as ninjutsu and genjutsu will come more easier with her Sharingan once she has the reserves to keep it up. The reason why she's constantly doing something with her chakra, either making kunais or pens stick to her hands, or tying a thread from her arm warmers to her thumb, to cycle through the individual fibers.
Actually, she's gotten to the point where she can reinforce it by instinct as a sort of armor to defend against steel.
"So? Just cause I'm a medic doesn't mean I can't be a taijutsu specialist too."
"How does that work?" Izumi looks genuinely confused.
"Tsunade-sama is a front liner too even though she's a medic."
"Yeah, but that's Tsunade-sama though?"
"-argh! Whatever! Let's just fight!"
Hana gives a growl, a wordless signal, and pounce at Izumi,
Kunai against claws.
Nagi's girl friends are amazing.
She watch them by Byakugan as they flash around the clearing, flat on her back on a post, their speed above that of regular academy students. Which isn't a surprise, as both clans do put emphasis on speed in their respective taijutsu.
Nagi considers buying weights with her mission pay for the three of them (the clan stipend no longer provides for her allowance after she graduated). She already has Tokuma's gift for his graduation, and it doesn't need to be a graduation gift but she can just give her friends gifts for moving up.
She'll talk to Yuki-sensei for suggestions and advice on where to procure and also the appropriate weight so they won't be biting off too much and damaging their muscles in the long term.